The action prompts
are designed to control games with split-second efficiency:
Since there's no access to the main action buttons until
they appear, it's impossible to act out of turn online.
The other players can never know your action before you
have either acted or timed out.

Although you
can't act out of turn in Internet poker, you can ask the
games's software to execute your action for you at the proper
time during that round. What if you get a run of garbage
cards and want to muck them instantly so you can repeatedly
dash to the kitchen and stir the soup? Or suppose in a wild
games full of maniacs you catch a monster flop and decide
to raise or re-raise all comers to build a pot - no matter
what the action. On a more mundane note, suppose someone
ahead of you is playing very slowly and you know you want
to call?

In such situations, you have a way to "pre-act"
before the action reaches you, but without playing out of
turn. By using pre-action checkboxes, you can predetermine
your action. You can click your intent to muck, call, or
raise any bet before you run to quickly do something on
the other side of the room. In pot-limit or no-limit games,
you may find only a single pre-action checkbox: fold. Your
specified action will be executed automatically by the software
the very moment action reaches your seat. and the other
players will know only that you acted quickly and decisively
in turn.

The pre-action checkboxes
are considerably smaller than the pop-up action buttons
appearing only when it's your turn to act. The checkboxes
are small and unobtrusive and you almost might miss seeing
them unless you look for them, but ever-present while you're
in a hand until the very moment it's your turn, whereupon
they yield to the larger visual prompts. You must click
in them. rather than on them, meaning that you can click
again to remove a check if you change your mind before action
reaches you.

To use them, simply
click in the little box next to "Fold," "Check
or fold," "Call any," "Raise any,"
etc. Be warned, though: Returning with your snack or drink,
you may find that pre-checking "Call Any" got
you embroiled in a capped round. So make sure you understand
the implications of your anticipatory check!

By making wise use
of the pre-action checkboxes, it's easier to play in another
games simultaneously. You might also multitask in the office,
read, watch TV, or do housework while playing. We're not
saying we recommend dividing your attention in this way
- indeed we do not. But since we know many of you will anyway,
make things easier for yourself by using those convenient
little white boxes.

As an aside regarding "pre-action" checkboxes,
it's possible to pick up a tell (or a false tell) when someone
acts very quickly by using a checkbox. For example, after
a player has bet, if the next player raises in a split-second,
it's very probable that he used a "bet or raise"
or "raise any" checkbox. This usually means the
player has a powerful hand, but it could also be a move
set up for deception. Be alert to the speed of actions by
your opponents, and you might pick up a thing or two about
the strength of their hands, or, at least. their tendencies
in certain situations.